'Extremely surprised with my knowledge and know-how' - Mikel Arteta bites back at Arsenal's critics after Gunners boss sent 'handbrake off' message

Arteta opted for a three-man midfield to start against City, which comprised of Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino, while more attack-minded duo Eberechi Eze and Ethan Nwaneri were named on the bench. Eze was introduced in the second half and the former Crystal Palace star eventually provided the assist for Martinelli's equaliser.  Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville both criticised Arteta's approach to the game. While Carragher labelled Arteta's first-half tactics as "a waste of 45 minutes", Neville said, "they’ve got to take the handbrake off".

Now, responding to the former Premier League stars' criticism, Arteta told reporters: "I don’t read it (what is said), but he (Arsenal’s press officer) does tell me what the narrative is around it. If you tell me that this is the main one, and if I am surprised, I would be extremely surprised with my knowledge and my know-how and how I analyse a football game. Because it was impossible for somebody to predict such a dominance from Arsenal throughout 96 minutes, because it never happened in 17 years of Pep [Guardiola] as a manager.

"So if the narrative goes somewhere else, and we’re talking about dominance, not about something else, how can you be dominant against such a team if you have, what was the word? Handbrake. Dominance and handbrake, they are two different words. But I accept everything. I will learn more to have a different vision."

The Arsenal boss added: "I was just surprised, because when I saw everything and watching it back and all the stats, I was surprised. But I respect everybody’s opinion. And if I can see and learn something that I haven’t seen, I’m more than happy to do so. So that’s never an issue. And, as well, I don’t think that one player makes that. When you see the behaviour of our team, if you want to define that with one player playing one position, I understand a collective sport in a completely different way.

"And then we play Ebz (Eberechi Eze) on the right-hand side. Could he play 90 minutes? That’s a question I put for myself because none of you know the load that he can do. So it’s easy to say he could have played with the start, maybe not, because he already played two games from the start. And he’s never played as a right attacking midfielder, so that’s another one. A new element for him, but all good."

Arteta's City counterpart Guardiola also faced criticism for his tactics in the Premier League clash, with many experts claiming that he copied Jose Mourinho's pragmatic blueprint to grind out a win instead of sticking to his usual fluid philosophy. City will be back in league action against Burnley this weekend, while Arsenal are set to face Newcastle.